Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Former WV Fire Official Sentenced to 33 Months for Arson, Insurance Fraud
May 30 2025 // A former West Virginia volunteer fire official who pleaded guilty to fraud after burning down his home and misusing the fire department’s credit card has been sentenced to 33 months in prison. Donald A. Ennis, 44, of...
Nurse Showed COVID Was Work-Contracted, West Virginia Supreme Court Rules
May 29 2025 // The West Virginia Supreme Court has ruled 3-2 that a prison nurse is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for her COVID-19 disease because she provided sufficient evidence that she contracted it in her...
Judge Orders Restoration of Health Program for West Virginia Coal Miners
May 16 2025 // A judge on Tuesday ordered the restoration of a health monitoring program for coal miners in West Virginia and rescinded layoffs the federal government implemented in a unit of a small U.S. health agency. U.S. District...
WV Commissioner Posts Guidelines on Insurers’ Use of Aerial Images
Apr 28 2025 // After receiving multiple inquiries about the use of aerial images in property insurance nonrenewals, West Virginia’s insurance commissioner has posted guidelines for insurers’ use of the technology. In a...
Tornadoes Kill 2, Injure 3 in East Tennessee, With Flooding in WV, Kentucky
Feb 10 2025 // WARTBURG, Tenn. (AP) — Two tornadoes moved through eastern Tennessee, leaving a mother and daughter dead and injuring three other people, officials said Friday. A mother and daughter from the same household were killed...
New West Virginia Governor Axes DEI and Enacts Vaccine Exemptions on Day One
Jan 16 2025 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued a slew of aggressive executive orders on his first full day as West Virginia’s chief executive Tuesday, including one enabling families to receive...
Ex-West Virginia School System Official Charged With Stealing $3.4 Million
Dec 17 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A former maintenance director of a southern West Virginia county school system was charged in a scheme to steal about $3.4 million from a local board of education. Michael David Barker appeared...
Fourth Coal Miner This Year Killed in West Virginia
Sep 9 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A coal miner was killed on the job in West Virginia on Friday night, Gov. Jim Justice said. The Republican governor said Gary Chapman, 33, of South Williamson, Kentucky, died after being injured...
Inadequate Inspections and Oversight Cited in Fatal WV Helicopter Crash
Aug 29 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Inadequate inspections by an operator and a lack of oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration were partly to blame for the crash of a Vietnam-era tourist helicopter that killed six people...
Union Rep Says WV Governor Still Late on Greenbrier Bills
Aug 26 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s family is millions of dollars behind on payments to employees’ health insurance fund at their financially beleaguered hotel, putting workers’...
WV Volunteer Fire Official Pleads to Insurance Fraud After Burning Down His Home
Aug 23 2024 // A former West Virginia volunteer fire official is awaiting sentencing after he admitted to setting fire to his home, filing an insurance claim, and using the fire department’s credit card for personal gain. Donald A....
Cyber Risk: West Virginia OIC Plans to Dispose of Older Workers’ Comp Files
Aug 22 2024 // The West Virginia insurance commissioner’s office has adopted a new policy: It will soon begin destroying workers’ compensation claim files that are 10 years old or older. “Given increasing cybersecurity...
WV Governor Scrambles to Halt Foreclosure of His Greenbrier Hotel
Aug 22 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, deep in the middle of a U.S. Senate race, is also in a mad-dash legal fight to keep a historic West Virginia hotel at his luxury resort before it’s auctioned...
West Virginia Governor Touts 20th-Straight Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Decrease
Aug 13 2024 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance is recommending a 9.1% decrease in workers’ compensation loss cost projections for the West Virginia voluntary market. If approved by regulators, it would mark the 20th...
Woman Dies in West Virginia’s Second Coal Mine Fatality This Year
Jul 26 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia woman died Wednesday more than a week after an accident at a southern West Virginia coal mine, Gov. Jim Justice said. Ashley Cogar, 33, of Erbacon, was injured at the Wyco Surface...
WV Reminds Local Governments, Non-Profits of Flood Insurance Requirements
Jul 25 2024 // The West Virginia insurance commissioner is reminding all state and local governments and non-profit organizations that they could face penalties if they fail to obtain flood insurance on properties in flood hazard...
West Virginia’s Ludewig Retires as Agency Joins with Leavitt Group
Jul 19 2024 // Longtime West Virginia insurance agent Charles Ludewig has decided to retire, paving the way for his agency to join the Leavitt Group, one of the largest privately held brokerages in the country. “I’m looking...
Lawsuit Against West Virginia Troopers Settled in Death of Maryland Man
Jul 12 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A judge approved a $1 million settlement Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit that accused West Virginia state police troopers of using excessive force on a Maryland man who was walking along a...
WV Governor’s Coal Company Settles with BrickStreet Mutual in Payment Dispute
May 28 2024 // The hits keep coming for West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his coal companies. The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals last week agreed to dismiss an appeal brought by Justice’s Southern Coal Corp. against its...
WV Coal Mine Where Miner Died Had Multiple Safety Violations
May 24 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A coal mine in West Virginia had a long history of safety violations before a miner was fatally injured this week operating an excavator, according to local news reports. Virgil Paynter, of...
